Senate Commerce Postpones Future of Video Hearing

A Senate Commerce Committee spokesperson has confirmed that the future of video hearing that was being penciled in for Sept. 30 has been erased, at least for the moment.

The desire for such a hearing has not waned, at least according to a committee source, who said it was witness scheduling issues that caused the postponement.

Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch and FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake were being floated as possible asks, according to one industry source.

Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) last year joined with then Commerce Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), who has since retired, to propose one view of the video future, the Local Choice proposal that would have allowed cable subs to opt out of TV station signals on an ad hoc basis if they did not want to pay the per-sub price for them that cable operators pay and pass along to their subs.

Elsewhere on the media front, the House Communications Subcommittee has moved its broadcast media ownership hearing start time from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25.